Magnitude Of Damage Research Articles

Seaport adaptation to climate change disasters: Subsidy policy vs. adaptation sharing under minimum requirement

Many seaports around the world face serious threat of natural disasters related to climate change. They have been investing in adaptation measures to mitigate potential disaster damages. This paper proposes an economic model to examine the inter-port competition in adaptation investments when ports face asymmetric disaster losses. Specifically, we model the trading mechanism of the adaptation resources among different ports, and benchmark the outcomes with the widely used adaptation subsidy policies. Our analytical results suggest that with adaptation trading under the minimum requirement policy, the port facing the low disaster loss sells adaptation resources to the port facing the high disaster loss, allowing the latter to cover all its disaster loss. Subsidy policy is pro-competitive and intensifies inter-port competition in adaptation investment and output. In comparison, adaptation trading facilitates inter-port coordination, possibly leading to port collusion. When the magnitudes of disaster damages are low, adaptation trading brings higher social welfare than the subsidy policy despite possible port collusion, leading to a Pareto improvement. When the magnitudes of disaster damages are high, the subsidy policy is preferred in terms of social welfare and port adaptation. Our model results reveal the strengths of alternative adaptation policies, and call for evaluation beyond competition effects when examining port coordination in adaptation.

Impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on the Incidence of Takotsubo Syndrome Using a Multicenter, Long-Term Regional Registry.

This study aimed to clarify the incidence of takotsubo syndrome (TTS) after the Great East Japan earthquake (GEJ-E) between inland and coastal areas. Consecutive hospitalized patients with TTS were registered between 2009 and 2016 in Iwate Prefecture. Patients were divided into 2 groups, by whether they lived inland or in the coastal area (both max. seismic intensity, 6-). The incidence of TTS was calculated using the standardized incidence ratio (SIR) before and after the earthquake. The long-term prognosis of the 2 groups was compared by Kaplan-Meier analysis. A total of 112 patients with TTS were registered from the acute coronary syndrome records of each hospital (n=4,163); 9 patients with TTS were registered within 2 months of the earthquake. A significant monthly variation was observed in March and April 2011 compared with the other months (P=0.029). At 2 years after the earthquake, the SIR was significantly increased in the coastal area (P<0.01), but decreased after ≥3 years. There were no significant differences in the long-term prognosis between the 2 groups (P=0.20). The incidence of TTS was increased in the acute phase after the GEJ-E, particularly in the coastal area. The magnitude of the tsunami damage is presumed to be a factor in the increased incidence of TTS, even though the seismic intensity in both areas was comparable.

Disturbance frequency, intensity and forest structure modulate cyclone‐induced changes in mangrove forest canopy cover

AbstractAimTropical cyclones are large‐scale disturbances that can shape the structure and dynamics of mangrove forests. Although tropical cyclone activity overlaps extensively with the latitudinal distribution of mangrove forests, the relationships between cyclone intensity and frequency and mangrove forest canopy damage and recovery are not understood at the global scale. Using remote sensing data, we examined how mangrove forest structure, climate and cyclone characteristics influence canopy cover loss and recovery dynamics.LocationGlobal tropics.Time period2000–2020.Major taxa studiedMangrove trees.MethodsUsing two satellite‐derived vegetation indices (the enhanced vegetation index and the normalized difference infrared index) from 86 cyclones affecting 56 mangrove sites across the globe, we quantified mangrove canopy loss in relationship to cyclones. Using linear regression and variance decomposition, we identified and ranked significant predictors of cyclone‐induced canopy loss and recovery.ResultsThree‐quarters of the studied cyclone disturbances resulted in canopy damage. Stands exposed to high wind speeds and those close to the cyclone paths were more severely damaged, whereas lower damage magnitudes were found in sites with greater past cyclone frequency. Canopy damage was greater in tall mangrove stands but decreased with higher aboveground biomass. The distance from the cyclone path and maximum wind speed were the most important factors, representing &gt; 50% of the explained variation in cyclone damage. There was considerable variation in canopy damage among cyclones, but rates of recovery were similar across all mangrove sites, with the main predictor of recovery time being the degree of canopy loss.Main conclusionsOur results suggest that the resistance of mangrove canopy cover to cyclone disturbance is variably tuned to the cyclone regime and vegetation characteristics, but resilience is inherent to the magnitude of canopy damage because the rate of forest canopy recovery appears to be consistent globally.

An Integrated Method to Evaluate Sustainability for Vulnerable Buildings Addressing Life Cycle Embodied Impacts and Resource Use

The vulnerability of buildings faces further scrutiny as gaps in design, construction, operation, and maintenance remain. Although there has been noticeable progress in the field, the frequency and magnitude of building damage during natural events highlight the fact that sustainable infrastructure has not yet reached all targets. In this study, sustainability aspects of vulnerable buildings are revisited to propose more robust measures to prevent damage and a lack of functionality. Those measured are underpinned by the merging of environmental and structural sustainability for one novel integrated approach. The method devises structural intervention scenarios based on damage levels and service period. It also aims at reducing resource use and embodied impacts through the discretization of standard life cycle analysis into customized stages. The integrated method to evaluate sustainability is tested on two vulnerable buildings in Turkey and Mexico, built with different codes of practice and having experienced low to medium damage during severe earthquake events. Research findings indicate that although embodied impacts form a minor part of the building life cycle environmental impacts, sustainable structural interventions can further reduce both embodied impacts and demands on natural resources. Hence strengthening vulnerable buildings can provide an advantage to help the sustainable transformation of cities.

Important roles of the human leukocyte antigen class I and II molecules and their associated genes in the autoimmune coagulation factor XIII deficiency via whole-exome sequencing analysis.

Autoimmune coagulation factor XIII deficiency is a bleeding disorder caused by the formation of autoantibodies against the coagulation factor XIII (FXIII); however, the molecular mechanism underlying this process is unknown. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to elucidate this mechanism by performing whole-exome sequencing analysis of 20 cases of autoimmune FXIII deficiency. We identified approximately 21,788-23,916 variants in each case. In addition to their ability to activate T cells, present antigens, and immune tolerance, the candidate alleles were further narrowed down according to their allelic frequencies and the magnitude of damage caused by the substitution of amino acids. After selecting 44 candidate alleles, we investigated whether they were associated with the FXIII inhibitory titers and/or the anti-FXIII autoantibodies. We found that two polymorphisms whose variant allele frequencies were significantly lower in the patients tended to decrease FXIII inhibitory titers as the number of variant alleles increased. We also found that five polymorphisms whose variant allele frequencies were significantly higher in the patients tended to increase the levels of the anti-FXIII autoantibodies as the number of variant alleles increased. All of these polymorphisms were found in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and II molecules and their associated genes. In particular, the HLA class II molecule and its associated genes were found to be involved in the presentation of foreign antigens as well as the negative regulation of the proliferation of T-cells and the release of cytokines. Polymorphisms in the HLA class II molecules and the cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 have been reported to be associated with the development of autoantibodies in acquired hemophilia A. Therefore, we hypothesized that these polymorphisms may be associated with the development of autoantibodies in autoimmune FXIII deficiency.

Tracking the Rates and Mechanisms of Canopy Damage and Recovery Following Hurricane Maria Using Multitemporal Lidar Data

Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm, snapped and uprooted canopy trees, removed large branches, and defoliated vegetation across Puerto Rico. The magnitude of forest damages and the rates and mechanisms of forest recovery following Maria provide important benchmarks for understanding the ecology of extreme events. We used airborne Lidar data acquired before (2017) and after Maria (2018, 2020) to quantify landscape-scale changes in forest structure along a 439-ha elevational gradient (100–800 m) in the Luquillo Experimental Forest. Damages from Maria were widespread, with 73% of the study area losing ≥ 1 m in canopy height (mean = −7.1 m). Taller forests at lower elevations suffered more damage than shorter forests above 600 m. Yet only 13.5% of the study area had canopy heights ≤ 2 m in 2018, a typical threshold for forest gaps, highlighting the importance of damaged trees and advanced regeneration on post-storm forest structure. Heterogeneous patterns of regrowth and recruitment yielded shorter and more open forests by 2020. Nearly 45% of forests experienced initial height loss > 1 m (2017–2018) followed by rapid height gain > 1 m (2018–2020), whereas 21.6% of forests with initial height losses showed little or no height gain, and 17.8% of forests exhibited no height changes larger than ± 1 m in either period. Canopy layers < 10 m tall accounted for most increases in canopy height and fractional cover between 2018 and 2020, with gains split evenly between height growth and lateral crown expansion by surviving individuals. These findings benchmark rates of gap formation, crown expansion, and canopy closure following hurricane damage and highlight the diversity of ecosystem impacts from heterogeneous spatial patterns and vertical stratification of forest regrowth following a major disturbance event.

Numerical assessment of dissipation energy capacity in perforated plate steel dampers

The use of perforated metallic shear dampers in buildings has been an adequate strategy for reducing the magnitude of damages caused by earthquakes on primary elements. Furthermore, the amount of energy dissipated by the shear dampers is in turn affected by the geometrical shape of said perforations. Such process is carried out without knowing the most adequate shape or distribution of perforations in relation to an established amount of material.In this research, 5 different steel sheer damper setups will be compared in order to determine how this affects performance and to understand how damper perforation shape affects energy dissipation capacity. The latter is achieved through a performance analysis of dampers under a cyclic load using the finite element analysis software Abaqus. Likewise, the decrease in response to a seismic event of a plane frame will be measured using three different seismic motions for all the different setups used for the researched shear plates

Cytotoxic T cells are able to efficiently eliminate cancer cells by additive cytotoxicity

Lethal hit delivery by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) towards B lymphoma cells occurs as a binary, “yes/no” process. In non-hematologic solid tumors, however, CTL often fail to kill target cells during 1:1 conjugation. Here we describe a mechanism of “additive cytotoxicity” by which time-dependent integration of sublethal damage events, delivered by multiple CTL transiting between individual tumor cells, mediates effective elimination. Reversible sublethal damage includes perforin-dependent membrane pore formation, nuclear envelope rupture and DNA damage. Statistical modeling reveals that 3 serial hits delivered with decay intervals below 50 min discriminate between tumor cell death or survival after recovery. In live melanoma lesions in vivo, sublethal multi-hit delivery is most effective in interstitial tissue where high CTL densities and swarming support frequent serial CTL-tumor cell encounters. This identifies CTL-mediated cytotoxicity by multi-hit delivery as an incremental and tunable process, whereby accelerating damage magnitude and frequency may improve immune efficacy.

Critical country-level determinants of death rate during Covid-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has already led to over 94 million confirmed cases and over 2 million deaths globally (John Hopkins CSSE, 2021). Due to the magnitude of the socio-economic damage of COVID-19 all over the world, we analyzed the critical country-level determinants of the death rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have examined the effects of GDP (allocated to pandemics and health), education, gender, cultural factors, number of physicians (per 1000 of the population) on the death rate. A correlation between the death rate and socio-economic conditions has been observed. The finding shows that power distance, individualism, gender, and age affect the death rate more than other socio-economic factors we use. We have also performed the same analysis by using Lockdown levels as a moderator. Lockdown levels have a more significant moderating effect on cultural factors rather than the other socio-economic factors. However, due to the topic's sensitivity, we still need to pay attention to the socio-economic factors that may have lower levels of significant relationship with the death rate, since even 0.1 % of changes in coefficients of our other socio-economic variables could mean thousands of lives. The study results will help health organizations, administration, and policymakers take the necessary steps to combat and manage the pandemic.

Identifying Priority Areas for Coastal Protection Around Java, Indonesia

Climate change-induced sea level rise will likely increase the severity of ongoing coastal disasters in Indonesia. The selection and concentration approach should be applied to minimize the costs of conservation when budgets are limited. Prioritizing is then effective in terms of cost effectiveness. We aimed to identify priority areas for coastal protection against sea level rise around Java, Indonesia, using the Marxan model. The model uses systematic planning to select prioritized areas for coastal protection. Three scenarios were developed based on ecological, economic, and disaster elements that were exacerbated by sea level rise. A scenario is defined as a particular simulation circumstance based on assumptions about extrinsic drivers, parameters, and the structure of the model. Coastline length, mangrove coverage, low-elevation area, fishpond area, human settlement area, and the area of zones with the potential for annual rainfall increases acquired from DIVA-GIS and WorldClim were set as environmental factors. There were 60 areas facing the coast among 117 areas. For those protection, it would be fairly costly. We were able to narrow that number down from 18.8% to 62.4% from 117 areas using our method. This might become very cost effective. The most prioritized areas were located in the northern region of Java. These areas can be a focus of preferential effort and funding for conservation. The results of this study will help to make the protection strategy based on not only the magnitude of damage but also the total perspective using public data that is relatively easy to obtain.

Preconditioning Exercise Effect On Biceps Brachii Myotendinous Junction Displacement During Elbow Flexor Eccentric Contractions

The extent of biceps brachii distal myotendinous junction displacement (MTJd) during maximal eccentric contractions (MaxEC) of the elbow flexors (EF) increased over 10 sets in the first MaxEC bout, but did not increase during the second MaxEC bout that was performed 4 weeks later (Lau et al. AJP-RICP 2015). This suggests that the repeated bout effect (RBE) is associated with a reduction in muscle lengthening during MaxEC. However, it has not been investigated if this is also the case for the RBE conferred by low-intensity (10%) 30 eccentric contractions (10%EC) or two maximal isometric contractions at a long muscle length (2MVIC). These two exercises were shown to attenuate the magnitude of muscle damage induced by subsequent MaxEC (Chen et al. MSSE 2012). PURPOSE: This study tested the hypothesis that 10%EC or 2MVIC that was performed at two days before EF MaxEC consisting of 5x6 MaxEC would reduce increases in MTJd over MaxEC, and it would be associated with the protective effect by preconditioning exercise. METHODS: Sedentary young men were randomly placed (n = 12/group) to a control group that performed two bouts of MaxEC (CONT-1st, CONT-2nd) separated by two weeks, or one of two preconditioning groups that performed 10%EC or 2MVIC at 20o elbow flexion at two days before MaxEC. All exercises were performed by the non-dominant arm. MTJd of each contraction was assessed by B-mode ultrasound, and its changes over sets were compared among the groups. Several muscle damage markers were measured before to 2 or 5 days after each bout, and the changes were compared by a mixed-design two-way ANOVAs. RESULTS: The average MTJd from the start to the end of six MaxEC in the first set was similar among the groups (6.4 ± 0.7 mm). The MTJd increased from the first to fifth set, but the increase was smaller (P < 0.05) for the 10%EC (13 ± 6%) and 2MVIC (16 ± 9%) groups, and CONT-2nd (3 ± 6%) when compared with CONT-1st (60 ± 12%). Both 10%EC and 2MVIC groups showed smaller (P < 0.05) changes in all muscle damage markers after MaxEC similarly when compared with CONT-1st, but the changes were greater than those after CONT-2nd. CONCLUSIONS: These results supported the hypothesis, suggesting that less MTJd changes are associated with the mechanisms underpinning the preconditioning effect on muscle damage. Supported by MOST, TAIWAN (MOST108-2410-H-003-116-MY3).

Оценка влияния пожаров на лесные экосистемы c учетом уровня развития лесотранспортной сети

Currently, we can state the fact that there is no developed unified scientific approach to determining the degree of the total ecological and economic damage from forest fires based on the ecosystem approach, taking into account the multipurpose of forest benefits and the dependence of achieving the effectiveness of forestry and fire-fighting measures on the level of development of the transportation network on the territory of the forest fund. Hence, we can conclude that the development of a method for assessing the magnitude of ecological and economic damage from fires to forest ecosystems considering the factor of planning a forest road network is an urgent scientific issue. In this regard, the purpose of the article is to develop a methodology for assessing the degree of ecological and economic damage from fires to forest ecosystems, taking into account the planning factor of the forest road network and its testing. Within this framework, the article outlines the issues under study concerning the need for forecasting: the probability of forest fires, the area of their spread over the territory of the forest fund, the assessment of the degree of the possible ecological and economic damage to forest ecosystems. The study of these issues is necessary for the timely implementation of fire-prevention and restoration measures, as well as the determination of the value of optimal reserves sufficient to eliminate the consequences of forest fires, the assessment of the correlation of the indicator of total ecological and economic damage from fires with the level of development of the transportation network, which directly affects this indicator. The article presents a mathematical model developed by the authors, which forms the basis of the proposed method for assessing the degree of ecological and economic damage from fires considering the factor of planning the creation and development of the forest road network. The presented methodological development is based on the tools of economic and mathematical modeling, elements of the theory of probability and combinatorics, as well as an integrated interdisciplinary approach to the research object. The article also presents the results of a computational and numerical experiment using the developed methodological apparatus. The methodology proposed by the authors can be used in identifying the most fire-hazardous areas of the forest fund, development of measures to preserve biodiversity, planning logging, reforestation work, etc.

Probabilistic Flood Hazard Maps from Monte Carlo Derived Peak Flow Values—An Application to Flood Risk Management in Zamora City (Spain)

All flood hazard and risk assessment suffer from a certain degree of uncertainty due to multiple factors, such as flood frequency analysis, hydrodynamic model calibration, or flood damage (magnitude–damage functions) models. The uncertainty linked to the flood frequency analysis is one of the most important factors (previous and present estimation point to 40%). Flood frequency analysis uncertainty has been approached from different points of view, such as the application of complex statistical models, the regionalization processes of peak flows, or the inclusion of non-systematic data. Here, we present an achievable approach to defining the uncertainty linked to flood frequency analysis by using the Monte Carlo method. Using the city of Zamora as the study site, the uncertainty is delimited by confidence intervals of a peak flow quantile of a 500-year return period. Probabilistic maps are derived from hydrodynamic results, and further analysis include flood hazard maps for human loss of stability and vehicle damage. Although the effect of this uncertainty is conditioned by the shape of the terrain, the results obtained may allow managers to achieve more consistent land-use planning. All those Zamora city results point out the probable underestimation of flood hazard (the higher hazard areas increase around 20%) and risk when the uncertainty analysis is not considered, thus limiting the efficiency of flood risk management tasks.

Utilization of Light Microscopy in Predicting Cotton Strength and Fibre Damage.(Dept.T)

Tensile strength and damage of cotton fibres could be assessed by making use of light microscopy. In essence, a solution was prepared consisting of ZnCl2 (100g.), KI (32 G.), water (34 Ml) and l2 (till saturation) . This solution was used as a swelling agent for cotton during microscopic examination. Differences in numbers, shape, size, and sequences of beads of the secondary wall as well as the shape of the primary wall have been taken to predict, (a) magnitude of damage, (b) location of damage,(c) kind of damage, whether chemical or mechanical (d) maturity of fibre, and (e) tensile strength.

Alteration in Oxidative Stress Biomarkers and Cytoarchitecture of Hepatic Tissues in Freshwater Fish &lt;i&gt;Clarias batrachus&lt;/i&gt; (Linn.) under Sub lethal Butachlor Stress: Spectrophotometric and TEM Study

&lt;p&gt;The present study addresses the deleterious impact of sub lethal exposure of butachlor 2-chloro-N-(2-6-diphenyl) acetamide on hepatic cells of air breathing fish &lt;em&gt;Clarias batrachus&lt;/em&gt; (Linn.) based on light and transmission electron microscopy and estimation of oxidative stress biomarker enzymes &lt;em&gt;viz.&lt;/em&gt; reduced glutathione and lipidperoxidase. Fishes were exposed to 1.0µl/L butachlor for 5, 10 and 15 days respectively. After schedule exposure, blood sample were collected and extracted serum were analyzed for quantitative estimation of serum reduced glutathione and lipid peroxidase activity by spectrophotometer. The liver tissues were processed for light and electron microscope. Light photomicrographs of hepatic cells reveal dose related abnormalities which increases with the duration of exposure. Major changes attributed to the hepatic cell were parenchyma degeneration, necrosis along with fibrosis, widening of sinusoids, vacuolation, and infiltration of eosinophilic inclusion, karyolysis, pyknosis and perivenular congestion. Transmission electron microscopy of hepatic cells also revealed degenerated hepatic parenchyma, accumulation of lipid and electron dense material, degenerated mitochondria, nuclear shrinkage and enlarged lysosomes engulfing cytoplasmic particles in contrast to control fish. On prolonged exposure, the most frequent pathological modifications were mitochondrial swelling with regression of cristae and giant lysosome with myelinated phospholipid membrane pointing towards phospholipidosis. The activities of all the marker enzymes showed high fluctuation indicating significant imbalance in comparison to control. The study highlights the oxidative stress caused by butachlor correlated with histopathological anomalies of hepatic cells. It can be used as sensitive index for assessing the magnitude of oxidative damage and physiological dysfunction of experimental fish under laboratory condition.&lt;/p&gt;

Welcome to the Largest Biological War Worldwide: COVID-19

This research is interested in evaluating the COVID-19 as the largest biological war worldwide. We assumed that COVID-19 is a different type of war. This war is between a human being (society) and a mortal virus. Therefore, we evaluate the human and business damage of COVID-19 under the application of the Anti-COVID-19 War Simulator (ACW-Simulator). We will evaluate how COVID-19 affects business behavior from a holistic approach. We are using different players, environments, magnitudes of business damage, the number of human casualties from COVID-19, and the fight of COVID-19 under the vaccination mechanism. In our case, the COVID-19 is an unconventional war without any alert, declaration, or specific or real enemy.

Current status on coffee leaf rust (hemileia vastatrix) in sidama and gedeo zone, southern Ethiopia

Coffee is the most important and second traded commodity next to oil in the world. In Ethiopia, coffee leaf rust caused by Hemileia vastatrix is one of the third most economically important diseases of Coffee Arabica. The current status of coffee leaf rust was intensively assessed and examined in 189 sample coffee farms from six districts across major coffee growing areas of the Southern Ethiopia. At each farm, ten randomly selected trees on a diagonal transect across the farm were assessed for disease incidence and severity. The survey data showed that coffee leaf rust was present in all assessed district varying in magnitude and extent of damage. The highest overall mean of rust incidence (38.6%) and severity (13.80%) was recorded at Dilla zuria while the lowest incidence (10.52%) and severity (1.38%) was at Yergachaffee district. The highest altitude range was obtained at Yergachaffee (1838-2056) while the lowest was at Dilla zuria (1434-1825) district. Overall mean severity and incidence result indicate that, there was statistical (p = 0.058 for severity, p = 0.044 for incidence) and negative correlation between intensity and altitude (severity, r= -0.80 and incidence, r= -0.82). The linear regression equation of severity and incidence obtained from the data was Y= -0.036X+73.16 and Y = -0.074X +158.9 (where Y= percentage CLR severity and incidence, respectively and X= altitude). This regression equation implies that, in higher elevation areas the rust intensity was low as compare to the lower elevation. Finally, the disease was remarkably increasing from time to time in all assessed coffee farms. Therefore, appropriate measurement like farmers’ awareness creation and training on how to control disease as well as appropriate agronomic managements has to be seriously undertaken. In addition, development of coffee leaf rust resistant varieties to southern Ethiopia through resistant breeding has to be set high priority.

Predicting defoliator abundance and defoliation measurements using Landsat‐based condition scores

AbstractRemote sensing imagery can provide critical information on the magnitude and extent of damage caused by forest pests and pathogens. However, monitoring short‐term changes in deciduous forest condition caused by defoliating insects is challenging and requires approaches that directly account for seasonal vegetation dynamics. We implemented a previously published harmonic modeling approach for forest condition monitoring in Google Earth Engine and systematically assessed the relative ability of condition change products generated using various model parameterizations for predicting pest abundances and defoliation during the 2016–2018 gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) outbreak in southern New England. Our comparisons revealed that most models made reasonable predictions of changes in canopy condition and egg and larval abundances of L. dispar, indicating a strong correlation between our harmonic‐based estimates of condition change and defoliator activity. The greatest differences in predictive ability were in the spectral domain, with assessments based on Tasseled Cap Greenness, Simple Ratio, and the Enhanced Vegetation Index ranking among the top models, and the commonly used Normalized Difference Vegetation Index consistently exhibiting poorer performance. We also observed notable differences in the magnitude of scores for different baseline periods. Additionally, we found that Landsat‐based condition scores better explained larval abundance than egg mass counts, which have historically been used as a proxy for later‐season larval abundance, indicating that our remote sensing approach may be more accurate and cost‐effective for generating consistent retrospective assessments of L. dispar population abundance in addition to estimates of canopy damage. These findings provide important linkages between spectral changes detected using a harmonic modeling approach and biophysical aspects of defoliator activity, with potential to extend monitoring and prediction to regional or even continental scales.

A n injured liver caused by overdose of acetaminophen has altered expression and activities of P450 enzymes and associated drug efficacy during liver recovery and regeneration

Acetaminophen (APAP)-induced liver injury (AILI) is the leading cause of acute liver failure in the United States. Alterations on therapeutic efficacy and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in patients with AILI are not fully investigated. Our previous study showed that AILI could result in dose-dependent and immediate decreases in expression and activities of major hepatic drug-metabolizing cytochrome P450s (P450s) enzymes in mice. However, liver will go through regeneration after AILI. How P450-mediated drug metabolism alters during liver regeneration is unclear. The aim of the study was to investigate the alterations in expression and activities of major P450 enzymes and associated drug efficacy and ADRs during liver regeneration after AILI. Adult male C57BL6/J mice were treated with various doses of APAP at 0 (no damage control), 200 (mild damage and recoverable), 400 (severe damage but recoverable), and 600 mg/kg (life-threatening damage and unrecoverable). The mice were sacrificed at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours after the APAP treatment. Severity of liver damage was detected by plasma levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and miR122, with further confirmation by H & E staining in liver tissue sections. The expression and activities of CYP1A2, 2B10, 2C29, 2E1, and 3A11 were measured by RT-PCR (mRNAs) and MS/MS quantification of probe drugs, respectively. Sedation efficacy of midazolam was monitored at different time points after APAP treatment at different doses. The levels of ALT and AST significantly increased at 24 hours after APAP treatment at 200 and 400 mg/kg but dropped back to normal levels at 72 and 96 hours. No mice treated with 600 mg/kg APAP could survive to 72 hours. The magnitude of liver damage was further confirmed by H & E staining. The major examined P450 enzymes showed significant decreases at 24 hours in gene expression and activity levels and recovered back to normal with the doses of 200 and 400, but not 600 mg/kg of APAP. The activities of examined major P450s are correlated with the levels of ALT, AST, and mir122. The alterations of CYP3A11 resulted in correlated changes in sedation efficacy as reflected by sleeping times with midazolam treatment. These results indicated that P450 expression and function could recover after mild and even severe, but not lethal AILI. Overall, these results suggest that ALT, AST, and miR122 are potential biomarkers for predicting how alterations in P450 activities can justify dose selection of other drugs for desired efficacy. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings in human patient populations with AILI and to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms mediating recovery of hepatic P450s during AILI.

Damage and loss magnitudes of Eucalyptus pellita and Acacia mangium stands due to 2D-seismic activity

2D-seismic activity for oil and gas exploration was conducted in Jambi, Indonesia in 2014-2015. The seismic lines passed through the area of HTI (Industrial Plants Forest), Oil Palm Estate, and people’s plantation as well. The 2D-seismic activity was conducted in such a careful way, that any negative impact had to be avoided, minimized, managed, and monitored. However, any damage and loss of the other party occurred. Inventory of cultivated plants or trees damage was conducted for loss compensation purposes. In fact, from a total of 1,376 shot points of the 2D-seismic activity in the HTI-plants traversing about 183,008 plants, which each shot point represented 133 growing plants, involved 286 damaged plant categorized in slight, medium, and heavy damage. Plant age was categorized in juvenile, very young, young, and higher plants. The damaged plants were found only equivalent to 0.00001% of the total growing plants. The total economic loss of timber Plantation due to the 2D-seismic activity consisted of Loss of Expected Value, Loss of Expected Benefit Value, Loss of the Damage of Installation, and Infrastructure of timber plantation and Loss due to Inefficiency Value as well was estimated less than USD 0.01 per ha.